Network Ready Research: The role of open source and open thinking

Talk abstract: "The highest principle of network architecture design is interoperability. If Metcalfe's Law tells us that a network's value can scale as some exponent of the number of connections, then our job in building networks is to ensure that those connections are as numerous, as operational, and as easy to create as possible.

Where we make it easy for anyone to wire in new connections, we maximize the ability of others to contribute to the value of our shared networks. Bioinformatics has, from time to time, been derided as "slidedecks full of hairballs," yet those hairballs and their ubiquity are emblematic of the fact that at its heart bioinformatics is a science of networks: networks of physical interactions, of genetic control, of degrees of similarity, or of ecological interactions among many others. Bioinformatics is also among the most networked of research communities and among the most open in the sharing of research papers, research data, tools, and even research in process in online conversations and writing. How can we apply the expertise we have on the study of networks to the creation of effective networks for research communication?"

Bio: "Cameron Neylon is a biophysicist with an interest in how to make the internet more effective as a tool for science. He writes and speaks regularly on scholarly communication, the design of web based tools for research, and the need for policy and cultural change within and around the research community."